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Former Methodist Church

Other Name Uniting Church Location Cnr Ford and Church Streets,, BEECHWORTH VIC 3747 - Property No B0619 File Number B0619 Level State

[1/1] B0619 Uniting Church

Statement of Significance

A simple stone church built in 1857, buttressed and with a stuccoed facade distinguished by angled corner buttresses with stylised pinnacles, a quatrefoil and blind lancet in the gable and drip moulds over windows and door. The delicate Gothic glazing bars appear to have survived intact.
Classified: 'Local' 09/07/1959
Revised: 03/08/1998

STATEMENT OF SIGNFICANCE (HISTORIC AREA)
Beechworth is a picturesque nineteenth Century provincial town. It is a well preserved example of a Government and private building, which resulted from the town's important historical role as the administrative and commercial centre of Victoria's north - eastern goldfields. Beechworth was once significant for its position on an early overland route from Melbourne to Sydney.
The town is located sympathetically to the topography, in an area of considerable landscape interest. Set admist forested undulating country, there remain many relics of the mining era in and about Beechworh. It is a rich field for the industrial archaeology.
There are, within the town, a large number of historical and architecturally significant buildings. These display a quality of form and richness of material and detail, which make Beechworth one of the most significant of Austraila's goldfield towns. Of particular interest is the common usage of local granite in construction. Its honey colour imparts a quality distinctive to Beechworth.
The highlights of Beechworth are the grid of wide streets flanked with granite kerbing; the streetscapes of considerable integrity with groups of homogeneous buildings set off by mature elms and other exotic trees; and the remnants of historic Victorian gardens. About the town there are many examples of nineteenth century street furniture, signs and fences. Beechworth's historical wealth is of national significance.
Classified: April, 1983